REVISED 2.6.
08
CLDP 3394/3194—Research and Evaluation Methods—Spring 2008
Lecture MW 5:30-6:45 in GR 4.208; Lab R 4:00-6:00 pm in GR 4.208, GR 3.206 or GR 3.602 TBA
Instructor Contact Information
Dr. Duane Buhrmester
GR 4.532; 972-883-2352
buhrmest@utdallas.edu
Office hours: Mon. 4:30-5:30 pm and by appointment
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Prerequisites: PSY 2317 or STAT 1342
Course Description:
This course has three major goals. First, students learn about
research designs and methods; second, they learn about data
management and analysis; and third, they learn to write up a
formal research report following APA standards. After
completing this course, students should be “beginning”
researchers capable of a) formulating testable research questions,
b) creating appropriate designs and data gathering methods, c)
carrying out and presenting appropriate statistical analyses, and
d) and writing research reports that meet the standards required
for submission for publication.
Student Learning Objectives:
After completing the course, students should be able to:
2.1 Identify and explain different research methods used by
developmentalists.
2.2 Explain and apply basic statistical analyses and employ
critical thinking to evaluate the appropriateness of
conclusions derived from their use.
2.3 Gather, accurately summarize, incorporate, and interpret
sources materials in their writing.
2.4 Use critical thinking to design and conduct basic studies to
address research questions using appropriate methods
2.5 Demonstrate proficiency in writing research reports
following APA Style Guidelines that include an abstract,
introduction, methods, results and discussion sections.
2.6 Describe and apply basic methods used in program
evaluation.
3.2 Use critical thinking to construct effective written arguments.
3.3 Engage in creative thinking in identifying research questions
and designs.
4.1 Write effectively using appropriate organization, mechanics,
and style.
4.2 Demonstrate effective oral communication skills.
4.4 Demonstrate effective collaboration with others.
Required Textbook and Materials:
Cozby, P. C. (2007). Methods in behavioral research (9th ed.).
New York: McGraw Hill.
Other assigned readings can be found using WebCT and through
the UTD library electronic reserves
You must have ready access to a personal computer that has
Microsoft Excel installed. We will also be using the “Data
Analysis” add-in Analysis ToolPak that comes standard (search
“data analysis” in the Excel Help search window to learn how to
do this). Any version of Excel will work, including Office 98,
2003, 2007 or XP.
It is highly recommended that you obtain your own copy of the
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association
(5th edition). .
Teaching Assistant Contact Information
Elica Rahdar
GR 4.402; 972-883-4846 or 214-402-3362
axr014800@utdallas.edu
Office hours: Tuesday 12-1 pm and by appointment
Evaluation and Grading:
12% Research Article Extracts. You’ll learn to skim and extract
the critical information from assigned journal articles. Drop
worst 3 of about 12 extracts.
13% Homework Assignments. Various exercises to teach data
handling, data analysis, library research and writing skill. Drop
worst 4 of about 14 assignments.
20% Textbook Quizzes. There will be at least one 5-minute quiz
per textbook chapter at the start of each class the reading was
assigned for. Quiz questions will come verbatim from the end-
of-chapter “review questions.” Drop worst 5 of about 19 quizzes.
50% Independent Project. Broken down as 5% draft proposal,
7.5% revised proposal, 5% draft results, 7.5% draft report, 25%
final report.
5% Poster Presentation and Discussion. Prepare poster
presentation of project and hold 10 minute in-class question-and-
answer discussion with classmates.
Grading is based on a set of a priori criteria: 90% correct for A’s,
80% for B’s, 60% for C’s, and 50% for D’s.
Policies:
Attendance: I really want you to come to class. Attendance is
practically required. You must be present the entire class period
to be eligible for full credit for quizzes, extracts, homework and
project assessments that are due that day. Quizzes can not be
made up (but you can drop 5). Work received from students
arriving late to class or leaving early will be counted as one day
late for each instance cumulatively (because it is very troubling
to have students coming and going during class).
Late Assignments. Late homework, extracts and project
assignments will be marked down 5% for each day late (i.e.,
35% mark down per week) and can only be turned in during a
class period, not via email.
Excuses. I do not need or care to hear about your reasons for not
getting to class or turning things in on time. I have built
reasonable cushions into the grading scheme (i.e., able to toss 4-
5 assignments and modest late penalties) to account for normal
life calamities. If you have a serious problem that lasts longer
than a week, then come talk to me. Colds, flu, car trouble,
athletic events, etc. aren’t serious problems.
Turn-It-In.Com. All independent project assignments must be
turned in via Turnitin.com in addition to the hard copy turned in
during class. This includes the draft proposal, revised proposal,
draft results, draft report, and final report.
The following course calendar will be changed at the whim of
the instructor. Students must come to class to learn about these
changes. Don’t trust what is posted on WebCT.
REVISED 2.6.08
Est.
Date Reading Class Topic Quiz/Assignments Schedule Hours
1 Jan 7 Overview of course
Types of research issues: basic and applied
9 Ch 1 Scientific Method, 1-13 The science of child development; Basic vs. Quiz: Chap 1 (1-5) & 2 (1-2, 4) 2
Ch 2 Hypotheses & Articles, 16-23, 33-34 applied research Due: HW Research Issues (2) .5
Reading basic and applied research articles
10 Excel 2007 Courses (talking) Gathering data; Entering Data; Cleaning Data Due: HW Excel Creating workbook .7
http://office.microsoft.com/en- In class questionnaire training session .9
us/training/HA102189871033.aspx Pass around answers, entry data Due: HW Excel Enter formulas training
Excel 2003 Courses Clean data session
http://office.microsoft.com/en- Create class grades worksheet (as a group) 3.206
us/excel/HA011161281033.aspx
14 Ch 4, Studying Behavior, 66-87 Conceptualizing Research Questions and Designs Quiz: Chap 4 (1-11) 1.5
Hand out Bandura, 1965 Extract an article
Descriptive designs (Last day to add course)
16 Brainstorming Research Issues Due: Article Extract 1 1
Experimental designs Due: HW Research Issues (6) 1
Multiple designs for same issue
17 Ch 12, 225-233 Means, SD, Histograms, graphs Quiz: Chap 12 (1-5) 1.5
Appendix A 342-345 Brainstorming Project Issues Due: HW Excel Statistics Functions .5
HW assignment on WebCT Overview of data sets training .6
Due: HW Excel Charts I & II training
3.206
21 Martin Luther King Day—NO CLASS
23 Ch 11 Quasi-Experimental, 203-221 Inferring cause from correlation Quiz: Chap 11 (1-11) 2
Types of Quasi-Exp. Designs (Last day to Drop w/out W)
Designing multiple types of designs
24 Ch 12, 233-240 Descriptive Correlations Correlations in Excel Quiz: Chap 12 (1-9) 1
Brainstorming Project Design 3.206 1
28 Ch 2, 23-32, Library Research Conducting a Literature Search Quiz: Chap 2 (3) 1.5
Literature Reviews: Box score vs Meta analysis Due: HW Project Brainstorm 2
Brainstorming Multiple designs
Jan 30 Appendix A, 287-304 Writing Intro and Methods Quiz: App A, 287-304 1
APA Style Due: HW Multiple designs 1
Talk through articles together
31 OWL at Purdue Grammar, punctuation, style testing Due: HW Literature search I 1.5
Using Grammar checkers Due: HW In class test 1
REVISED 2.6.08
Est.
Date Reading Class Topic Quiz/Assignments Schedule Hours
Return: HW Project Brainstorm
3.602
Feb 4 Ch 3, Ethical Research, 37-63 Research Ethics and IRB Quiz: Chap 3 (1-8) 1.5
Finding Data for Project
6 Reading: Sample Proposals Planning a Project Proposal Due: Literature search II 1
Introduction Template Due: HW data plan (at end of class) 1
Proposal Rubric
7 Appendix A, 304-341 Drafting Project Proposal Quiz: Appendix A, 304-341 1.5
GR 3.602 Due: HW proposal outline (at end of 1
class)
11 Finding or constructing measures Due: Project Draft Proposal 10
ERIC, contacting authors, writing
13 Ch 7, Survey Research, 123-146 Develop questions, pilot, refine Quiz: Chap 7 (1-11) 1

14 Chap 5, Reliability & Validity 91-105 Types of reliability and validity Quiz: Chap 5 (1-7) 1
GR 3.602 SRQ and ICQ development Due: HW Your Questionnaire .6
18 Ch 9, 165-183 Conduct Experiment Research Logistics Quiz: Chap 9 (11) 1.5
Return: Draft Proposal
20 Ch 6, Observing Behavior, 108-121 Creating observational codes Quiz: Chap 6 (1-8) 1.5
Putallaz & Gottman, 1981 Watch entry tapes
21 Reading: How to compute Cohen’s Kappa Observational Coding and Inter-rater Reliability Quiz: Compute Kappa .6
GR 4.208
25 Ch 13, 247-269 Statistical Inference Testing group differences Quiz: Chap 13 (1-8) 1
Due: Project Revised Proposal 3
27 Chap 12, 239-244, Regression Models Predictive Regression Quiz: Chap 12 (9-12) 3
Multiple Regression
Path analysis
28 Reading: Intro to SPSS Using SPSS for MR analysis Quiz: Intro to SPSS 1
NEED TO FIND LAB
Mar 3 Ch 8, 149-162 Basic Experiments Experimental Designs: Between Groups Quiz: Chapter 8, 149-162 (1-8) 1.5
Hand out Mischel & Baker, 1975 Extract Mischel & Baker Return: Revised Proposal
5 Ch 10, 186-201 Complex Experiments Complex manipulative designs Quiz: Chap 10 (1-5) 1.5

6 Reading: Mixed model designs SPSS for Repeated and Mixed-model ANOVA Quiz: mixed models reading
GR 3.206 (Last day for “WP/WF”)
15 Spring Break—NO CLASS
REVISED 2.6.08
Est.
Date Reading Class Topic Quiz/Assignments Schedule Hours
Mar 17 Project Data Analyses 4.414
19 Project Data Analyses 4.414
20 Project Data Analyses 3.206
24 Cross-sectional designs Due: Project Draft Results 8
26 Reading: Discuss Cross-sectional studies Due: Article Extract 5 1
27 Reading: Mixed model ANOVA Due: Article Extract 6 1
3.206
31 Reading: Educational Assessment Due: Article Extract 7 1
Return: Draft Results
Apr 2 Reading Discuss educational assessment studies Due: Article Extract 8 1
3 Reading Simple regression Due: Article Extract 9
Prediction, cut-off scores 3.602
7 Reading: Treatment assessment Due: Article Extract 10 1
9 Discuss treatment studies Due: Project Draft Report 15
10 Reading: Change, treatment-control, cross-over Due: Article Extract 11
NO LAB AVAILABLE 4.414
14 APA Reading Poster preparation Quiz: APA poster reading 1.5
16 Reading: Longitudinal designs Due: Article Extract 12 1
17 Ch 12, 240-244 Multiple Regression Multiple regression, Statistical control Quiz: Chap 12 (10-12)
3.206
21 Class presentations Return: Draft Report
23 Class presentations
24 Class presentations
16 28 Class presentations
May 1-7 Class Party Due: Project Revised Report 1-10
REVISED 2.6.08
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